AT least 700 new computer and back office jobs are to be created in Dublin following a series of corporate mergers and restructurings, The Irish Times has learned. Stratus Computer, now owned by Ascend, which currently employs 350 in Blanchardstown, is set to split into three separate companies and expand rapidly.
Sources said last night the new jobs would be in research and development, technical support and financial shared services.
In recent years, IDA Ireland has placed great emphasis on promoting the Republic as a location for multinational companies to consolidate their administrations.
The head of Stratus's Irish operations and Ascend's vice-president of international operations, Mr Eoin O'Driscoll, said last night that while his company was in negotiations with the IDA, he could not speculate on the outcome of those talks or the number of new posts that would be created.
But he confirmed that Ascend was on the point of signing an agreement with a "major third-party manufacturer about outsourcing Stratus's range of products".
This deal, likely to be announced later today, will mean about 300 new high-tech manufacturing jobs at Blanchardstown.
Stratus has been manufacturing mainframe "fault tolerant" computer systems in the Republic since 1989; in 1995, the Blanchardstown facility became the firm's worldwide manufacturing headquarters.
Last August, Stratus was acquired by Ascend, a rapidly expanding US technology company, for $822 million (#709 million). Its customers include AT&T, Bell Atlantic, GTE, MCI/Worldcom, Qwest, France Telecom, Deutsche Telecom, BT and Telecom Italia.
Its rapid growth has been underpinned by the expansion of the Internet.
The new company said it had been considering expanding in the Republic before the merger, and immediately began plans to expand at Blanchardstown.
Mr O'Driscoll said Ascend was now spinning off Stratus's 40-strong Irish research and development centre, which is also based in Dublin. The unit has been bought by a venture capital group led by Investcorp; it will keep the Stratus name and has plans to more than double its payroll to 100.
Earlier this month, Ascend merged with Lucent Technologies; the deal valued Ascend at $20 billion (#17.24 billion). The deal should be completed by the end of June.
"The speed and scale of these developments reflects the scale of opportunity which Ireland has to play a leading part in the world of global communications and e-commerce," Mr O'Driscoll said. "This can be Ireland's industrial revolution and a sustainable engine to drive economic growth well into the next millennium."
On Tuesday, Ascend reported net profits - excluding the purchase of Stratus - of $247 million (#213 million) for 1998, a rise of 17 per cent on the previous year. Revenue for last year reached $1.48 billion (#1.28 billion), a rise of 27 per cent.
(# - Euro)
